I only said that because at many points in my life I’ve struggled with other people’s jealousy. I’ve been the victim of it, I mean. That’s why I got out of Helsby. No one spoke to me after my divorce. I was barred from the Ladies’ Circle. They said it was because my ex had dropped out of the Round Table, but that was a cover. I wasn’t invited to drinks anymore, the annual charity raft race, nothing. It was just bullying. Basically, someone, and I know exactly who it was, spread a rumour that I’d had some sort of fling with her husband. It was all malicious gossip, not a word of truth – these women are toxic. Jealousy, as I said. Not my fault she couldn’t keep her husband interested, is it? He used to text me all the time, stood outside my house sometimes begging me to come and meet him… How is that my fault?
HS: Ms Taylor, did you see Rachel Edwards that evening?
IT: Only when I was trying to park. At that point I realised it wasn’t Mark, obviously. She was wearing his jacket and driving his car, though I didn’t find out why until later.
HS: Did you say hello to her?
IT: What? No. She didn’t see me. I saw her lock the car and glance about her. She looked quite shifty. Sort of watchful, you know? And now you’re saying this man’s collapse is suspicious, I’m wondering whether she was casing the joint. She headed towards the church, anyway, and when she pushed the cemetery gate open, I thought, whoa, surely not. More death-obsessed weirdness. It was like a scene from a film where there’s an abandoned warehouse and instead of even trying the lights they’re all, oh no, let’s just go in with our tiny flashing torches just in case the murderer has sensitive eyes. So naturally that’s the last I saw of her, and I certainly didn’t see him. Dirty old man.
HS: You didn’t follow her in?
IT: What?
HS: For the benefit of the tape, PC Button is showing Ms Taylor a CCTV image. Ms Taylor, can you tell me what you see on this image?
IT: That’s Rachel Edwards, going into the churchyard. In Mark’s raincoat. He let me borrow it once to run from the car into the office. He got soaked, poor man. So sweet.
HS: What about this image?
IT: It’s a… I… I mean, it’s very grainy, isn’t it? It’s a… is it a woman? Really, I can’t make it out…
HS: Notice the time recorded on the images – 19:48 on the first and 19:51 on the second. The person entering the churchyard on the second image is tall, with blonde hair, and is dressed in women’s clothes. You said you followed Mrs Edwards to the gate but you didn’t go in. And yet here you are going in.
IT: That’s ridiculous. This could be anybody.
HS: You recognised Mrs Edwards without hesitation from the same-quality photograph. (Pause) For the benefit of the tape, Ms Taylor is shrugging. Ms Taylor, you described the homeless man, Mr Parker, as a ‘dirty old man’. Can you explain what you mean by that?
IT: Well, a pervert, obviously. In a public place.
HS: For the benefit of the tape, Ms Taylor has made a masturbating gesture with her hand. Ms Taylor, that aspect of Mr Parker’s evening… activities was never reported. The only person to have witnessed it, by her own admission, is Mrs Edwards. Mrs Edwards has stated that she never told a soul. Given your casual acquaintanceship with Rachel Edwards, it’s unlikely that she told you about it, don’t you think? So how do you know what he was doing if you never went into the cemetery?
IT: I… I mean I… I mean, she must have told me. Or perhaps I saw him from the path. I did look over the fence so I must have seen him, I must have. That’s right, and it quite put me off my supper, so in the end I decided to go home.
(Pause)
HS: Mrs Edwards describes waking up with a pain in her head, as if she had passed out and perhaps hit her head. Or as if she had been knocked out by a blow to the head. Can you tell us anything about that?
IT: Of course I can’t. Are you accusing me of something? What, do you think I’d cosh her and make a run for it? (Laughs) Who do you think I am? Look, I’m her